Tawanda Chitiyoboasts neither of a fancy university degree nor any other such tertiary qualification. But the 30-year budding entrepreneur from Mutare has a sharp eye for business. He knows just when the time is right – and now was the right time to turn waste into energy
Chitiyo describes himself simply as “an entrepreneur and a climate change enthusiast,” with no prior experience in project development or management. It is easy, and very tempting, to dismiss the youthful entrepreneur as an amateur feigning humility to gain support.
But using his street-horned skills, Chitiyo has put together a team of experts that has come up with a formidable project plan to build what he termed a ‘bio-refinery’ in Mutare, producing gas, electricity and diesel from human waste, at a cost of $10 million.
Working in partnership with the Harare Institute of Technology’s Climate Change Research Centre and Astra Innovations, a German technological firm, Chitiyo has agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Mutare to convert thousands of kilogrammes of human excreta at the Sakubva and Yeovil waste treatment plant into something useful.